Gas-making apparatus



(No Modelj 2 sheets-She 1.

W. A. KONEMAN.

v GAS MAKING APPARATUS. No. 520,68'7. Patented May 29, 1894.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheetvf.V w W. A. KONEMANIV i GAS MAKING APPARATUS.

WILLIAM A, KQNEMAN, or cHIoAGo, IILINoIs.

v'J l-WTTE'D STATESPATENT OFFICE.-

' oAst-MAKING APPARATUS..v

' V sPEcI'FIcATIoN ferming part of Lears'ratet No. 520,687, datea May29, 1894.

Application fiiea Jun-e 24,

Too/li whomvitjmay corwerwfv V Be it known that I, WILLIAM'A. KONEMAN, acitizen of theUnited States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have vinvented a new and' useful Improvement inGas-Making jApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

i The object of'myinvention is to provide an 1mproved apparatus formanufacturing gas according to a process'for simultaneou'sly andcontinuously generating, in the same apparatus, a retort-gas and aproducer or water gas. The process referred to involves blasting a bedof bituminous coal to incande'scence with air, or air and steam, forcedthrough it to generate a producer-gas,'or i a water-gas, and leading itof from av point belowthe top of the bed, the portion of .which abovethe leading-o point'of such gas is heated by conduction from below, theVpassagebeing prevented of the blast-currents through the upper portionof theb fuel, from which gas is thus distilled, by a more gradualheating of the coal, andpassed ofi at thel top, the upper portion of thebed of coal beingthereby coked and allowed to sink by gravity into thelower or generating portion of the chamber for subjection to the blastfor producing the gas led ofi from a point below the base'of theretortingchambe'r as aforesaid.

More particularly stated, the object of my present improvement is toprovide anapparatus, in which to carry on the process referredto, withmeans whereby the gas of distillation, or retorted gas, shall bewithdrawn from the top of the bed and passed, on its way to the outletfrom the apparatus, through and subjected to the heat of, the lowerincandescent mass of the bed of fuel, thereby to fix the retort-gas andthe more intimately to mix it with theb produc'er or water gas productled off from below the top of the bed. It is particularly in thepro'vision of suitable means for thus directing the gas of distillationthrough the lower incandescent mass of the bed of fuel to the outlet,that the construction of my present apparatus differs from tlat of mypatent, No. 500,333, of June 27,

93. v Referring to the accompanying drawings-- Figure 1 shows myimproved apparatus in Vertical sectional elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan 1893. $erial No. 478,685. (No model.)

v sectional view of the same, the section being taken at the line 2 onFig. 1 and regarded as indicated by an arrow, with the steam-supply andair-blast apparatus in dotted representation; and Fig. 3, a plansection' taken at the line 3 on Fig. 1 and viewed in the direc-Arvdownward from about its transverse center,

the lower taper, however,extendingto a point short of the base, fromwhich the Walls of the chamber should be straight and forma pit A'provided with doors ir through'whic'h to remove the contents of the pit,which may be ashes, though I also provide a spout r' for drawing offliquid'slag formed with the ashes if a flux be fed with the coal, inwhich latter case the steam-supply throughthe tuyeres, hereinafterreferred to, is shut off.

`About the exte'rior of the chamber A near and preferably above itscenter I form what may be termed a gas confining and mixing chamber B,communicating through ports g with the generating chamber, from theupperend of which, on one side, a connecting passage B' leads to the chamberB; andl I prefer to provide the passage B' with. a draw-ofi outlet p.lVithin the chamber B and flanking the communication therewith of thepassage B' are walls B4 which obstruct the fiow through that chamber ofthe gas of distillation from the top of the fuel-bed, thereby forcing itto pass through the lower incandescent portion of the fuel-bed to reachthe ultimate outlet shown as a down-take B2, extending from the underside of the chamber B at the side thereof `farthest from the passage B'and which is preferably duplicated, as represented.

An air-blast leads into the chamber A near its base through tuyeres o,the air being conducted thereto through branches n of a conduit Oencircling the generator-shell andinto VIO which leads tlie blast-outletpipe O' of a fan D. The steain-supply may come through the exhaust-pipeE of an engine serving to drive the fan D and of which the cylinder FisV indicated in Fig. 2; and the exhaust-pipe E leads into a brancli E'encircling the structure below the air-pipe O, and from it leadsiib-branches m into the chamber A through its Walls soine distanceabove the plane of the tuyei'es and preferably also branches-Z into thetuyeres and branches k downward into the top of the generator.

The generator should be surinounted, as shown, by a hopper G of theautomatic-feed variety, which may involve any suitable or well-knownconstruction of such a hopper.

Following is a description of the Operation of my improved apparatus:The chamber A being charged with coal and the charge (which shouldbemaintained to extendnearly to the top of the chamber) being blastedthrough the tuyeres, steam is admitted from thepipes m and also, ifdesired, froin the pipes l; and the hopperis actuated to deposit freshsupplies of coal, as required, on the bed in the generatorchamber. Theresultant gas passes through ports g into the chamber B and thencedischarges through the down-takes 132, suicient,however, rising in thepassage B' to the top of the bed in the generator to eXert and maintaina degi'ee of pressure thereon, against the uprising ciirrents, sufiicing to prevent such intense heating of the upper portion of the bed aswould tend to suddenly disintegrate the fresh coal deposits, the resultof which would be to liberate and drive off the volatile constituentsbefore they undergo adequate subjection to heat to be thoroughlygasified. The pressure, on the top of the fuel-bed, of the gas sogenerated, by preventing the currents generated by the blast from risingthrough the fuel above the line of the ports g, causes that fuel tobecome heated by con-` duction from below and by the sensible heat ofthe gas on top, thereby effecting slow distillation of the fuel abovethe ports q; and the gas-product of such distillation, which risesthrough the mass against the gas-pressure from the passage B' on the topof the bed, enters that passage as a pure, high-grade illiiminating gas.From the passage B' the retorted gas passes through the incandescentportion of the fuel-bed to the down-takes 132, by entering the chamberB, whence the walls 134 direct it out of that chamber into the adjacentportion of the fuel-bed, through which it must pass, and be thus themore tlioroughly fixed and mixed with the lower grade of gas, in orderto reach the down-takes.

Inasmuch as the more important feature of' grade gas resulting from thedescribed distillation and passing it through an incandescent portion ofthe fuel-bed to the downtake, it is not indispensably necessary that theapparatus shall involve the incircling chamber B as means wliereby tolead olf the low-grade gas and of enforcing the described passagethrough the incandescent portion of the fuelbed of the high-grade gas ofdistillation, since the passage I' may lead into the cliamber A at theAplane where the ports q are shown to be provided in theencircling-chamber consti'uction, as through a chamber forining thatmuch of the chamber B as extends between the walls 134. ar

A valve 133 may be provided in the passage B' to regulate the How to andpressure on the top of the feel-bed, or to entirely close the passage,as in generatingthe gas of upper distillation, which is largely of thenature of marsh-gas, to be led oif by itself, through the outlet p, ifdesired, for separate use, as for purposes requiring especially highilluininating and heating gas prov'ision in the form of test-tubes hbeing madefor drawing o the upper gas from the chamber for examination;and the mixture of the different grades of the generated gases inthe-apparatus affords a fuel-gas of very good quality.

The downward and upward flaring coiistruction of the chamber A isadvantageous in maintaining the'mass of the bed, which tends to shrinkby consumption, compact 1 n the lower tapering portion, whereby lt iscrowded against the walls and thus prevents the currents generated bythe air-blast from passing up mainly along the walls and forces theirinore uniforin distribution through the entire inass of the bed. .Thedownward flare of the upper portion, on the other` hand, is afforded toprovidegreater area for the fuel in its descent to accommodate itsexpansion during the coking action; and, especially, to aiford a passageto the lower or generating portion of the chamber at least as great inhorizontal area as the coke-reoeiving upper end of such generatingportion of the chamber, whereby the coke may freely feed into it bygravity from the retort-chamber.

The grateless pit A', with the doors r, is a feature of advantage, sinceit permits the reinoval of any ashes at the base of the fire to belaecomplished without injnry to the condition of the bed. Then the fuelis fluxed, however, as hereinbefore mentioned, a bottom may be formed inthe pit, of ashes or other material, extending up to the line o, whichis near the plane of the spout r'.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a gas-manufacturing apparatus, the combination of the shellcontaining a lower generating chamber and an upper retorting chamber, acircumferential chamber B surrounding the shell externally thereof andcontaining the walls 134, ports q affording communication between thesaid generating chamber and. circuinferential chamber, a passage B'connecting the chamber B, from between said walls therein, with theupper end of the retorting chamber, blasting means for So O IOO

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the lower genera'ting chamber and an ontlet for the gas from the saidcircumferential chamber, substantiaily as described.l

2. In a gas-manufacturing apparatus the combination of the shellcontaining a'cha'mber A having its walls tapering in opposite'directions from near the transverse center of .the said chamber andforming an npper retortin g chamber and a lower generating chamber, acircumferential chamber B surrounding the'shell externally thereof andcontain- I erating chamber -and an outlet forthe gas from the saidcircumferentiai chamber, snbstantially as described. 1

3. In a gas-manufacturing apparatns, the

combination of theshell containing an ashpit in its bas'e provided With'cleaning-doors lr, a lower generating chamber above the ashpit andhaving unobstructed communication therewith for the free passage ofashes, and an upper retorting chamber, a circumferentiai chamber Bsurrounding the shell externaily thereof and containing walls B4, portsq affording communication between said gener- 30 i ating chamber andcircumferential chamber,

a passage B' conneetng the chamber B from between the said .wallstherein with the I ipper end of the retorting chamber,-blasting meansfor the lower generating chamber, and

an outlet for the gas from the said circumfer- `entia1 chamber,substantia1ly as described.

WILL'IAM A. KONEMAN.l

In presence of M. J. FROST, W; N. WILLIAMs.

